A/N: Hopefully that wasn't too long of a wait for all of you. :) Enjoy, as always.

Master of Death

With his feet planted firmly on the hardwood floor, Severus sat up and stared out the nearby window to the right of his bed. He didn't feel like getting up quite yet. He would, though, eventually. He watched the angry rain pelt against the glass, sounding as if rocks were being thrown at it. It had rained for two weeks now with no end in sight.

At the sound of his door creaking open, he closed his eyes, keeping his back to the door. Soft, familiar footfalls then approached.

"Dada?"

Reluctantly, Severus turned his head and glanced at his little green-eyed brat. Without another word, Harrison wrapped his arms around him the best he could do and warmly embraced Severus.

"Thank you, brat," Severus said softly a few moments later, ruffling the boy's hair. He couldn't sit there feeling sorry for himself any longer. He had a little boy who counted on him, who needed a father. Pushing himself up a second later, he held out a hand and waited for little Harrison to grab it before they headed downstairs for breakfast.

Demetri looked up from the book she had been reading the minute the two walked in and smiled.

"There's my big man," Tobias drawled before he picked up Harrison gently and carried him to a nearby chair. "Grandpa was wonderin' where ya went." He then glanced to Severus. "Want a cup? Just brewed it myself."

"And it tastes just like Goblin piss," Demetri stated with a wide grin before she laughed when Tobias swatted the back of her head with a rolled-up evening edition of the Daily Prophet. "I mean, it's good. Best cup I ever had."

"Cheeky brat," Tobias mumbled as he moved off.

Severus chuckled softly and sat down at the table. He looked over at Demetri's opened page and frowned at the runes. "Find anything yet?" He knew she had been researching about Fate's Judgment.

"Not yet," she replied with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean anything."

He nodded and proceeded to grab the cup of tea from his dad's outstretched hand. Two weeks Aurora had been gone. Two weeks.

Limbo. That was the hell he was in now. He had tried at first to stay up in his room away from the others, but his mother had other ideas. He was now expected down in the kitchens for breakfast, or else she'd drag him down there by his ear. After the third day of that occurring, he decided it had been enough and decided to appease her, if only temporarily.

Demetri had struck a deal with him as well. She'd let him know of any findings she had and would make it a point to be at breakfast, so they could talk. He was very grateful and appreciative of this kind gesture on her part. She didn't have to do this, he knew.

"Though, I did learn something interesting."

Severus's head shot up and snapped towards her.

"In order for her to have cast it, she had to—"

"Enough!" Eileen's voice sharply cut in as the older woman walked in to the kitchen with a thin, disapproving frown. "The silly girl is gone, Severus. Do you hear me? She's gone. She made her bed, so stop wasting any more of your precious time on her. She left you. Left all of us in order to be a foolish hero or whatever it was she was hoping to accomplish. She failed. Now, get over her and move on."

"Move on? Mother, she cast that—"

"Because she believed that there were ripples in the timeline. Tell me, Severus. Have you dreamt anymore about your future self's life? Hmm?" When he frowned, she scoffed. "I thought not." She then waved a hand towards Demetri. "That girl, right there in front of you, has been there for you. Continues to be there for you even after you push her away. Now, whatever may have happened between you and this Aurora in the future, it will not happen this time. She chose fixing the timeline over you."

"You don't know—"

"Nor do you, Severus. You've spent so much time fixated on her, and for what? For more heartbreak. That's all she gave you. That's all she would have given you." She then crossed her arms. "Me? Oh, well, I surely count this as a blessing in disguise. You deserve better."

Unable to sit and take a second more of his mother's hate-filled vitriol, he stood up and glared down at her. He briefly considered drawing his wand and leveling it on her, but she wasn't worth that. No. To truly hurt Eileen, he knew what he had to do.

"You're right, Mother. I do deserve better." His voice was hard and cold.

"Severus, don't," Demetri cut in.

"Son, stop," Tobias said as well, moving to grab Severus's arm.

He sidestepped his father's hand and stepped closer to his mother. "I deserved a mother who actually loves her son, who actually was there for him when he needed her, who loved him completely, who loved him more than her own abusive lover. But I didn't get that. Did I, Mother? No. Instead, I had to suffer at the hands of Roger, of Voldemort, of Albus Dumbledore, of James Potter and his gang of bullies, of you-name-it." He watched her take a step back from him. "Aurora may have left again, but she didn't leave me. You may not understand it, but she loves me. Loves me, Mother. Unconditionally. Without any hesitation. Without any regrets. Without any doubt in her soul. So, by all means, do try to tear down my feelings for her, because all you will ever do in that is show me once again that she is one of the few women in my life I can truly count on. And that you are not."

"She drugged you, Severus. Tell me. Is that something a woman does to a man she loves?"

"She did that, so I couldn't stop her."

"You didn't answer my question. Is that something a woman does to a man she loves, Severus? Drug him against his will in order to get her way? If so, then Roger clearly loved me, didn't he?"

It was a low blow for the both of them, but it did make Severus take a step back from his mother. He then shook his head and scoffed.

"When Diana arrives, let me know, all right, Dem?" Severus asked, turning towards the younger witch before he whirled around and left the room.

His mother didn't know what the hell she was talking about. And what the hell was her problem with Aurora anyway? The two barely had even talked to one another. It wasn't like Eileen had even tried to get to know her. No. It was clear that in her eyes, Aurora would never be good enough. And it made him so angry to think of that.

As he paced in the library a few minutes later, he found himself twirling in his hands the ornate wand that Dumbledore had given him awhile back. He didn't like the feel of it in his hands, and he sure didn't like the power it held. It was too much for one person. Just like the cloak.

Why on Earth would anyone need an Invisibility cloak? Gits like Potter and Black he could understand, but this wasn't Hogwarts anymore. He knew how to cast powerful Disillusionment charms. He didn't need the cloak. But it appeared it was an heirloom for Harrison to have. Though, that didn't necessarily make sense on second thought. Dumbledore had entrusted Severus with it, not the boy. Then again, Harrison was hardly of age for it. His mind continued spinning in circles.

Sighing, Severus moved towards a few black, dusty tomes, still twirling the wand in his hand, as he approached one book in particular that had a strange, yet oddly familiar symbol etched into its binding: a triangle with a circle inside and a vertical line running down the middle of both to split them in two. He reached towards the symbol, and his fingers traced it gently.

The familiar power deep within him surged through his veins as he did this. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply.

A flash of light, and he saw the Dark Lord pointing the wand in his hands at a green-eyed young man who seemed determined to defeat the dark wizard.

Another flash, and there was the same green-eyed young man from before pulling the familiar cloak tighter around himself before disappearing under its slippery material.

One last flash, and once more the green-eyed young man stood before Severus, turning over something in his hands once, twice, three times before a swirl of Severus's former classmates appeared. It was like a punch to his gut at the sight of Lily, James, Remus, and Sirus.

"You'll stay with me?" the green-eyed young man asked the four shades, his voice trembling.

"Until the very end."

A knock against the door brought Severus back to reality violently, and he sighed heavily. It had been that same thing over and over again that he had seen lately. Without a doubt, he knew the images he had seen were the boy's future memories if things had not changed.

Every single time he saw those memories, he found himself hugging the boy even tighter later. No one deserved to live a life like that.

His dark eyes darted to the opening door.

"Diana's here," Demetri stated as she stepped inside the room.

"Thank you." He dipped his head forward slightly before he exhaled. Now that he knew Diana had arrived, he found himself wondering if this would work or not. Originally when he had sent the owl, he was convinced it was the right thing to do. Now, though, he wasn't so sure.

He moved away from the dusty tomes, pocketing the ornate wand Dumbledore had given him again. As he brushed past Demetri, he paused when she gently grabbed his arm.

"If you need me . . ."

"I know," he replied quietly. "But I'll be fine, Dem." He then forced a grin to his lips. "After all, I'm one of the powerfullest wizards in the world, or haven't you heard that?" He chuckled quietly when he heard her snort and saw her eyes roll.

"Oh, whatever." She then released him and allowed him to pass by.

As he headed back downstairs, he found his mind wandering again. Had it not been for Demetri's friendship, these past two weeks would have been unbearable. It wasn't that she was necessarily doing anything special for him. It was more along the lines that she was there and making him feel better without fussing about him like his parents were doing.

When he saw Diana a few moments later standing in the entryway, he briefly considered turning away and leaving. He could do this later. But he didn't. Instead, he drew in a breath and pressed forward, hoping that he hadn't just let the devil into the manor.

"I'm glad you accepted my invitation," he stated.

"I'm grateful you offered," the older witch replied, brushing back her hair slowly. Her eyes then swept around the room before she returned her gaze to him. "Your . . . girlfriend isn't here, I take it?"

He forced a polite smile to hide the pain her words caused and stuck a hand into his pocket, feeling his long fingers brush against something small that was cold and smooth like a stone.

"She's indisposed currently." He then held out an arm to her, motioning her to the empty room off to their side. He was thankful when Diana headed to it without another word. He closed the door behind them a moment later. When he turned back, he noticed that Diana had already found the reason why he had chosen this room. He waited his turn, knowing that deep down she had needed this.

"Emma . . ." she murmured, her eyes staring up at the portrait of her dead niece. Diana then whirled around.

"It wasn't infused with magic, but the portrait is yours if you'd like it," he offered quietly, uneasy under Diana's eyes. "I'm aware it won't bring her back, but perhaps it'll ease your pain a bit."

"You . . . thank you, Severus," Diana said, dipping her head to him in gratitude. "But I owe you an apology. When we last met . . ." Her voice trailed off before she sighed. "You were correct to tell me off as you did that day. For so long, I've—well, I don't need to bore you with those details. I'm sure you can imagine." She then flashed a somber half-smile. "This portrait, though . . . thank you."

He waved away her gratitude, not wanting it at all. Gratitude wouldn't help anyone.

"You stated in your letter that you wanted us to speak?"

He nodded. He still wasn't certain how he was going to approach this with her. "You've been watching me for quite some time. No doubt, you're aware I've been attacked several times this past year by people hellbent on killing me for disrupting the timeline and ending the status quo." He noticed her eyes narrow on him briefly before she resumed her neutral look. "It's why you think I'm so powerful. Because my future self returned to this time and changed things for what he hoped was the better."

Diana crossed her arms and scoffed. "That's not why I know you're powerful, Severus."

"Oh?"

She half-smiled again and shook her head. "Albus truly never told you? Not even Riddle said anything to you?"

His eyes narrowed on her in confusion. What was she going on about? "Tell me what?"

She laughed quietly to herself. "All this time, I thought you knew. That they had told you who you were destined to be. I see now that I was wrong."

"Destined to be?" he repeated with a frown. "What are you saying?"

"Your future self who came back in time, Severus, he didn't tell you either?" She laughed incredulously. "I can't believe it. No wonder you haven't a clue."

He didn't know whether to feel insulted or not by her statement. As it was, he crossed his own arms defensively.

"You're the master of Death, Severus."

"What?" He took a step back from her, blinking in confusion.

"Please do tell me someone has read the story about the three brothers to you."

"The children's story?"

She snorted. "Well, that's one way to describe it, yes." She then waved her hand at him and shook her head. "It's about the Deathly Hallows, Severus. You do know about them, right?"

"The what?"

She rolled her eyes. "I see I have to explain everything."

His frown grew before he sarcastically replied, "Well, forgive me, Diana. Albus did love his secrets after all."

"That he did." She scoffed a moment later. "Very well then. The Deathly Hallows, they're real objects. Sure, you'll hear the old ones claim it's nothing more than tall-tales, but I happen to know they are very much real." She stood a bit straighter then. "It was why my sister agreed to Emma's marriage to an Ashmore in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"The Ashmore line descends from Antioch Peverell, one of the three brothers, and whom was rumored to have a powerful wand that would never lose. Well, at least until his throat was slit in the middle of the night," she said with an uncaring shrug. "The story the old families won't tell is why he dueled. Oh, they made it seem that he had just gone off the rails one night and dueled another wizard for the hell of it, but what they leave out is that he dueled that other wizard because that man had attacked a woman. Of course to show her appreciation for Antioch's actions, they shared a bed together. Marcus loved to tell that story to anyone who'd listen at the dinner parties." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And my sister, dumb as she was, thought Emma's marrying Lorian would rub something off on the Selwyn family, as if we couldn't hold our own." She smiled nastily. "We're alive, and they're not. So, I think we won, don't you?"

"This wand of his . . . what happened to it? Eventually, I mean?"

She stared at him as if he had grown a second head for a moment before she shook her head. "Well, eventually, it fell into Albus Dumbledore's hands when he won it from Grindelwald, and now yours, Severus."

"What?"

"Must I repeat myself?" She then huffed. "You own Antioch's wand, the Elder Wand, the Death stick, the wand of power . . . the wand given by Death himself. Need I go on, or do you understand?"

He stared at her, his mouth slightly open. She had to be joking . . . right?

"And I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, Albus did the right thing and passed along Ignotus's cloak to you as well, yes?" She then waved her hand again. "And before you ask, Ignotus was another of the brothers."

Harrison's cloak was another Hallow? He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on. Why couldn't he just have one normal year? That was all he wanted.

"Your future self, I'd imagine, gave you the stone. Likely in the letter he had given you before his demise. Together, you've united the Deathly Hallows, and the one who does that is a master of Death. Now, there is another requirement of course, which considering what you've endured over the years was easy. To accept death as a part of life and realize that there are worse things than death. And that, my boy, is just the abridged version that I know."

He reopened his eyes and stared at her.

"That's why I know you're powerful, Severus, because you are the master of Death itself. Reviving a lost love, thirsting for inconceivable power, and greeting Death like an old friend? Tell me. Doesn't that sound oddly enough just like you, hmm?" She smiled warmly at him before she laughed.